Blue Jays trade for bullpen help, cut ties with reliever
The Toronto Blue Jays are looking to beef up their pitching staff.
On Friday, the Blue Jays announced a trio of roster moves: a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies for right-handed reliever Ryan Burr, designating right-handed pitcher Joel Kuhnel for assignment, and placing Alek Manoah on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow sprain.
OFFICIAL: We’ve acquired RHP Ryan Burr from the Phillies in exchange for Cash Considerations.
Burr has been selected to the Major League roster and will be active tonight.
ROSTER MOVES:
🔹 RHP Alek Manoah placed on 15-day IL (right elbow sprain)
🔹 RHP Joel Kuhnel DFA’d pic.twitter.com/zHPXKJkwB7
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) May 31, 2024
Burr has been selected to Toronto’s major league roster and will be active for tonight’s game.
Prior to his time with the Phillies, Burr played four seasons for the Chicago White Sox but has yet to appear in the major leagues since 2022. He had four wins, three losses, an ERA of 4.08 and 66 strikeouts over the course of 75 career innings.
The news of the trade was first reported by Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi on Thursday night. At the time of the trade, Burr had registered 2.16 ERA in 16.2 innings over 15 games with 29 strikeouts in Triple-A this season for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
Kuhnel has yet to play for the Blue Jays this season, but has made six appearances in Buffalo with a 1.04 ERA.
According to TSN’s Scott Mitchell, Manoah is going for a second opinion, with the expectation that he’ll be out long-term after exiting Wednesday’s start in the second inning.
“I feel… it sucks,” Manoah said Wednesday night, via MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson. “I have my faith in God. I’ve dealt with a lot of sh*t this past year to get back to this point. This game is tough.”
The Jays return to action tonight when they host the Pittsburgh Pirates. First pitch is set for 7:07 pm ET, with Yusei Kikuchi on the mound for Toronto.
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